Ishita Nigam

“All that Glitters” by Ishita Nigam

Anaya punched her attendance in the biometric system at the entrance. She stepped into the corridor and gawked at the bright yellow light bouncing off the freshly painted walls. Four small lights were placed at the bottom corners and a few were placed in the false ceiling overhead. Different variants of “Hello” were printed on both sides along with some eccentric graffiti. She gawked at the “Hello, beautiful!”, “Bienvenu”, “Wassup?”, “Tea or coffee?” and “Is it Friday yet?”. The first one still made her smile, but the last one wa...

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“Anger and Fear” by Ishita Nigam

Submitted to Contest #102

They say anger and fear are like steroids. They push your limits and make you do things you normally wouldn’t do. They pushed mine way too far. I was lying on my bed facing down. It helped me breathe and calm myself. I could also hide away my tears and my anger. I had fought again with my mother. It was the third time this week. And we had managed to crawl to Thursday. Someone knocked at my door. I knew it would be my mother. She was always the first one to wave the white flag. “Iva, I am sorry, baby. Please don’t chain yourself ...

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“The Sharman Tales” by Ishita Nigam

Submitted to Contest #98

Jiya put the plates on their six-seater mahogany dining table. The overflowing sleeves of her tawny sequined gown got stuck between the table and the plates. At first, she thought of just giving in to the ire and yanking out the sleeve in one motion. Her friend, Maya, gawked at her from her chair, but Jiya ignored her. Who cared about the expensive Bone China plates that had hung around in their family for nine generations? “Don’t you dare, Jiya!”, her mother, sniffed the sadistic idea bubbling in her daughter’s head and whispered a s...

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“Expected” by Ishita Nigam

Submitted to Contest #95

Ellie Watson was browsing through the physics book. Her mother had bought it for her. It was the preferred career choice. Her mother’s. Everything about Ellie’s life spoke of her heritage. Her room was filled with photographs of the scientists and Nobel Prize winners in her family. Her parents were noted physics professors in reputed universities themselves. The wall across her bed was filled with books handed down to her by the elders in the family. She was expected to complete every book handed over to her within a certain time frame...

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“Nurture” by Ishita Nigam

Submitted to Contest #94

Kyra had been staring at the bracelet in her hand for quite some time. It belonged to her mother. The approaching footsteps jolted her back to reality and she quickly put it away. It was her flatmate, Natasha. Looking at Kyra’s blanched face, she understood. Her roommate was obsessed with drawing comfort from the bracelet in troubled times. Only this time, she didn’t poke Kyra about it. Rather, just asked what was troubling her. “Nothing really, I am just anxious about tomorrow’s interview”, and that was the end of the discussion. ...

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“Fit In” by Ishita Nigam

Submitted to Contest #93

Pink, blue and green. Rebecca’s mother rolled out all three dresses on her bed. These were the finalists, all she had to do was choose the dress for the party. “Mom, why don’t you pick one? That is one decision less for me.” Rebecca turned on her pleading glare hoping it would work on her mother. “Sweetie, I always make decisions for you. You really need to start on your own now. I have shortlisted three, why don’t you pick one?” Rebecca sighed and looked hopelessly at her mother. She hated making decisions that didn’t concern her onli...

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“Levitate” by Ishita Nigam

Submitted to Contest #86

Shanaya caressed her bald scalp for the millionth time. She missed her hazelnut lustrous hair. Chemotherapy had taken away her beauty. Or so she thought.Shanaya’s world had come crashing down ten months back. She was sitting with Dr Singh when he had broken the news to her.She was diagnosed with Stage III stomach cancer. She still had a seventy percent chance of survival though.Such news is always earth-shattering. It was a bit more than that for Shanaya. She had no family history of cancer and her lifestyle had been fine too. She loved cook...

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“The Unhackable” by Ishita Nigam

Submitted to Contest #84

Jason glanced at his running shoes lying in the corner. They still looked new. They still were brand new. It had been a long time since he bought them. He hadn’t touched them since that fateful day.Jason failed to realise that it had been 364 days, to be precise, since he confined himself to this room.Jason Mitch had been a regular IT guy, who had climbed the ladder in his career until one day, he lost all his months’ of hard work to a computer hack. It was just before the most important client meeting and his company was counting on him to ...

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“Full of Sorrows” by Ishita Nigam

Submitted to Contest #83

Arshiya picked up the small teddy lying on the top of her closet. It had turned pale brown over the years. Her father had gifted it to her on her sixth birthday, about twenty years back. It was one of the few memories she had of him. It was the last happy memory she had of him. She couldn’t part with it. She couldn’t find the courage within her. She placed it in the corner of her suitcase, which was slowly getting filled with things that she would need in her new residence. She felt a presence near her. Her gaze drifted to the figur...

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“If Today was Not Today” by Ishita Nigam

Submitted to Contest #81

The phone rang to pull her out of the stupor. Jena picked up the landline sitting in front of her.It was her colleague.“Hi, Jena’s line…. Sure, Audrey. I’ll take care of it.”She had a task at hand. She had to complete the contract and send it to her boss before 5 pm today.But today was a problem. She was distracted today. She was supposed to get married today.If she hadn’t broken up with Kevin earlier.She pulled her focus back to the laptop in front of her. She had been staring at the contract for nearly two hours now. And it was already 3:3...

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“I Just Realised I Changed the World” by Ishita Nigam

Submitted to Contest #80

Malala Yousafzai never thought she would be celebrating her sixteenth birthday giving a speech in front of the United Nations. That her birthdate would be declared as Malala Day for the whole world to celebrate forever. This is a story of how that young girl would have felt before stepping on the stage. This is my version of her thoughts. She firmly believed that ‘we realise the importance of light when we see darkness’. She knew that ‘our words can change the world’. She had lived in darkness with hundreds of children in Swat Valley, ...

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“A Knock from the Past” by Ishita Nigam

Submitted to Contest #79

Louisa saw her girls off to school in the bus and came back home. She had a couple of chores to finish before heading to work. Her boss was out of town so she could afford to delay her arrival at work today. She came back inside and headed to the kitchen. Half way through the dishes, her phone rang. She closed the tap, took off the gloves and wiping her damp hands on her track pants hurried to pick up her mobile. It was an unknown number. I hope it is the new baby sitter Susan was talking about. “Hello?” “Hello?” The network was fi...

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